Outfit Tuesdays: New Year's Eve

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A reader (an old friend from high school!) asked me to put an outfit together to stay warm while partying it up for New Year's in Chicago.  A difficult task, little lady.  A difficult task.  The things that I have learned over the nine and a half years of living in the Windy City I shall bestow upon you.

Number One:  LAYERS.  Layers will be your best friend.  The nice thing about a fancy dress is that a cashmere cardigan won't dress it down too much.  In fact, it'll give a bit of a boho, "Oh, this outfit? I just threw it together" look.  And it's always wonderful to be casually fabulous.  Also, you'll be cold inside but super warm after drinking and dancing, so you want to be able to remove some of the layers when you get hot.  If it's super cold outside I'd suggest two pairs of tights (that's always a fail safe to make opaque tights).   

Number Two:  A WARM coat.  We're talking WARM here.  I've done the whole wool pea coat looks so cute, but I'm freezing thing for too long, so I succumbed to the puffy jacket and have never been happier.  You're going to end up leaving it on a chair, or at a coat check anyway.  No one will see it when it matters.  And there are some really great puffy jackets out there these days; you can't go wrong with black.

Number Three:  CABS.  If there is snow on the ground you're not going to be able to maneuver that well in your three inch heels.  Cabs will be your best friend.  I'd suggest finding a number of a local company and programming it into your phone.  You should be able to step outside and hail a cab if you're downtown otherwise calling might be wise.  A word of warning:  be prepared to wait, especially if it is snowing.    

Plus, a trick:  When you get inside and remove your hat (you can get a slouchy one that won't mess with your hairdo) and gloves, put the gloves inside the hat and the hat/gloves combo inside your coat sleeve.  It'll stay and you won't have to worry about carrying around four different pieces of clothing.  I bet you could get your cardigan halfway in the other sleeve, too.

I hope this helps, Ashley!  And all the rest of you, too.

When all else fails... keep drinking champagne.